A Week, Briefly (Feb 28, 2022)

 It was a challenging week.

Little Princess was sick with a cold all week long . . . as was I.  Nature Angel had symptoms for a few days, but she was better able to fight it off.  The younger kids each had stuffy/runny noses for a day or so, but they ran around and played with energy that belied any sense of feeling ill.

Little Princess didn't feel well enough to go to youth activities at church, but the other girls did, and they got to play glow-in-the-dark volleyball!

After much internal debate about whether to prepare the kids in advance or keep it a secret, I told the younger kids about Sir Walter Scott's and my weekend date coming soon.  The older kids offered several months ago to take over for a full weekend, and we accepted!  We will be staying at a little Airbnb house just minutes from our own home so that we can come home immediately in case of emergency.  I chose to tell them because they were already overhearing conversations with the older kids, and I didn't want them to have a sense of unease about some unshared plan.

But, as usual, telling the kids has resulted in an eruption of negative behaviors.  

Brother found an old toilet paper stand (one of those free-standing ones) and tried to beat up Ladybug with it.  She was unharmed as Nature Angel intervened with her exceptional peace-making skills (I was putting Sugar Bear down for a nap and came out to find Nature Angel already in control of the situation).  Another day he tried to whip me with Toby's leash because I wouldn't let him tattle on a sibling when I was already handling the matter.

Beowulf has reverted to running around on all fours, making lots of animal noises, lying, and defying instruction.  Last night he fell into a screaming fit when I told him that if he wanted to play with his snot, he'd have to do it in another room and then wash his hands before re-joining the rest of the family at bedtime reading.  

Ladybug has regressed to years-ago levels of lying and stealing.  She also had a bloody nose at night that scared me.  I can't imagine how she could have made that happen, so it must be coincidence, but could stress or worry cause her to have such a terrible bloody nose?  She lost at least 1/3 cup of blood--probably closer to 1/2 cup.  We know this because she bled into her potty until she could get our attention for towels and ice.  After the bleeding stopped, I gave her a snack and a drink of water before putting her back to bed, and left her with a stack of towels and strict instructions to set off her door alarm immediately if she started bleeding again.  She was fine until morning, and then she only had a typical bleed that was managed in a minute or two.

I, of course, am panicking about leaving the older kids in charge of kids who do this, but I also remember that they're acting out in advance, and they will probably be perfectly peaceful while we're gone.  Also, we are only minutes away in case of emergency.

I keep saying that to myself, "We're only minutes away in case of emergency."

Mister Man's 3rd science kit arrived, and the boys spent a happy afternoon combining chemicals and exclaiming over various bubbling or exploding reactions.

That kit led Mister Man to spend the rest of the week poring over Little Princess' chemistry books.  He started an element notebook, and he shared facts constantly.

Interestingly, we still had a very productive homeschool week.

The weather has been so spring-y that the kids have had hours and hours of bike-riding, skating, running, and scootering out-of-doors.  This has helped them cope with the mental requirements of school even though they've been frequently emotionally dysregulated.

Seriously--warm enough for popsicles and naked babies!

We finished up our Early American History studies for the young ones.  Our final chapters of the textbook covered subjects including the underground railroad, whaling, and the California gold rush.  The kids were interested and full of questions that led to amazing discussions and lessons about geography, the law of supply and demand, ecology, justice, civil disobedience, and more.  

Serendipity arrived in the form of a birthday party invitation themed, "Can You Conquer the Oregon Trail?"  We've got some new neighbors a block or so away that threw this party.  Invitees were asked to dress in their best costumes of the era and come prepared to face challenges and triumphs.  They arranged their yard to include balancing on a log (crossing a bridge), "giving birth" on the trail (some baby dolls were strategically placed for picking up), hunting (nerf guns aimed at parents who were running around as buffalo), illness (assigned misfortunes and lots of playacting), and a whole bunch of other pioneer activities.  

What an amazing blessing/field trip/social event/end-of-study activity!!

Baymax finished this book.  Will he choose Explode the Code or pick up his Christian Liberty Nature Reader to take its place?  That is a question that will be answered next week.

As a whole the kids have transitioned from being annoyed at a new bedtime reading book to being invested in the stories of the ancient gods of Greece and Rome.  They begged me to read longer last night, and discussions about gender roles, romance, the fickleness of the gods, sickness, and death have begun to slow our reading and advance our learning.

I think it is so funny that they don't consider reading times to be school at all.  "School" to them is math and spelling and other subjects that need focused individual work.  The rest of it is just good living that they wish could last longer.

I failed to mention when Mister Man finished his handwriting book a few weeks ago that I asked him to start double language arts lessons.  He said he would, but then he came running to me to ask, "Mom!  Mom!  Can I do my Book of Mormon notebook instead?  I just realized I haven't worked on that in so long!"  

My answer was, of course, yes.  

So his current individual work schedule includes math, language arts, and Book of Mormon.

I gave Brother the math placement test for The Good and the Beautiful, and he was really on the fence for being ready to start their level 4 book.  I do not want him to have to go back and do level 3 at all!  Also, I've realized that though the kids look at the colorful pages and see the games and say they wish they could do that math, it would overwhelm Brother.  

It's actually kind of overwhelming for Beowulf.  There are so many pictures, and so many changes of activity that he struggles to focus on one activity at a time.  (How I wish I had realized that before purchasing the book for him!)  This week I'll be starting to cover the pages with white paper so that he can only see half a page at a time.

The 4th grade math book Brother has been working in has been a complete fail.  It was billed as a good bridge between grades 3 and 4, but it is actually a better review for grade 4.  There's only 1 page on each topic, and while Rod and Staff had too much repetition and review, this book barely has enough information to get started.  With The Good and the Beautiful no longer an option, I started looking again.

I settled on Christian Light Education grade 4 math Lightbooks.  The pages are black and white with plenty of white space.  There are 10 booklets to complete, so he'll have the satisfaction of completing one every month.  He can write directly in the booklets (copying from a textbook turns 30 minutes of math into 2+ hours).  The lessons have enough practice for mastery and look to have enough of a spiral component for solid review.  He'll start the first book on Monday; I'm very hopeful!

With the weather as warm as it has been and with spring fever creeping into our bones, I've debated taking a week or two break from formal school to just revel in spring.  However, the temperatures are returning to a more normal late winter/early spring level, and we have 4 dance shows in the next 3 weeks.  We will need our regular routine to keep us from falling apart in the face of performance excitement/let down/chaos.

I will revisit the break idea in April.